Centre seeks suggestions for facilitating renewal of international driving licence while travelling abroad

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said that the citizens can apply through the Indian Embassy or the Mission Abroad portals and the applications would then move to the VAHAN for being considered by the respective RTOs.

Representational Image (Reuters)

New Delhi: The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has issued a draft notification seeking comments and suggestions for the amendment to Central Motor Vehicles Rules 1989 for facilitating the issuance of International Driving Permit (IDP) for citizens whose IDP has expired while they are abroad. 

"It has come to notice that in certain cases for the citizens who are travelling abroad and in a foreign country, the International Driving Permit gets expired and there is no mechanism for its renewal while abroad. The proposal is to amend the CMVR 1989 to facilitate such citizens," said the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

They added that the citizens can apply through the Indian Embassy or the Mission Abroad portals and the applications would then move to the VAHAN for being considered by the respective RTOs. 

Further, the proposal also includes the removal of the conditions of a Medical Certificate and a valid visa at the time of making the request for the IDP in the country as the citizen who has a valid driving licence there should not be a requirement for another medical certificate.  

Notably, there are certain countries where the visa is on arrival and in such cases, the visa was not available when applying for the IDP in India before travel.